As I pored over the results of the Pacific-10 Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships from Friday and Saturday, compelled by a second consecutive men’s and women’s title sweep by the Oregon Ducks, I felt the urge to check on Oregon State’s and Washington’s results.
How could I resist? They’re the rival squads. They make up two of the endpoints in an isosceles triangle of Pacific Northwest hate. (The side of unequal length is the indifference between the Beavers and the Huskies.)
Oregon State combined for 12 points between the men’s and the women’s meet, all from two sources — junior Laura Carlyle in the 1,500 meters (second) and redshirt senior Hayley Oveson in the 5,000 meters (fifth). The Beavers do not technically have a men’s team, but three football players competed and failed to advance through preliminary rounds.
Washington fared little better, finishing ninth in the women’s team race (37 points) and eighth in the men’s team race (79). Though the Huskies are highly competitive in cross country, outdoor track is a different animal.
Meanwhile, the Ducks have now won five consecutive conference championships in men’s track and field; the women have now won three in a row. Oregon remains the class of the Pac-10 in track and field, thanks to superb coaching and unmatched program resources.
The next major meet in sight is the biggest of the year: the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, held June 8-11 in Des Moines, Iowa. A national title is always the goal, with a podium finish occupying the next level of importance. Oregon looks potent on the women’s side but much weaker on the men’s side.@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=243&SPSID=4364@@
This column is not about NCAAs. It is not about the Ducks’ recent performances in track and field. It is not about facilities, Phil Knight’s money or the athletic facilities “arms race” that has consumed colleges.
This column is about rivalries. It is about dominance.
Specifically, the prevailing rhetoric and attitude of college sports fans in recent years: Anything less than a complete domination of a rival school is a disappointment.
Oregon State revitalized its women’s track and cross country program in 2004, but for all intents and purposes, the Beavers might as well not show up to meets. After all, what impact could a small team possibly have?
In football, Oregon has a seven-game winning streak against Washington and a three-game winning streak against Oregon State. The Beavers and Huskies, it is said, have stylistically inferior stadiums and cannot match the volume and hostility of a typical Duck home game. They might as well not even try.
Washington, meanwhile, can look down its nose at its traditional rival, Washington State. Seattle is a much better city than Pullman (objectively), the Huskies have national championships the Cougars could only dream of, and an upcoming renovation to Husky Stadium will put little Martin Stadium to shame.
Just as winning is not limited to Charlie Sheen, winning forever is not limited to Pete Carroll. No more so has this been brought to attention than with the curious case of Harvey Updyke, Jr., the Alabama fan who poisoned the trees at Toomer’s Corner, close to Auburn University, killing off a nationally recognized tradition because the Crimson Tide lost the Iron Bowl to the Tigers this season. Dominance had been restored.
Somewhere along the line, rivalries used to breed creativity, encouraging schools to seek a legal (or extralegal) competitive edge. In the eyes of fans, this is no longer good enough.
Rivals must be beaten, humiliated and forced into submission time and time again. As a national preoccupation, this thought process has become a drug addiction.
Oregon is going to lose to Oregon State in football at some point. Washington too. Will there be a die-hard Ducks fan that loses control and defaces the property of traditions of a rival school? The last loss — in the BCS National Championship Game, against Auburn — was difficult for many and still weighs on hearts and minds.
Nike commodified the anguish of loss with a popular T-shirt now sold at the Duck Store: “Everybody loses games. Few change them,” it says, accompanying a picture of someone holding an Oregon helmet. @@http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commodify@@
Fans no longer have to wear their superior feelings on their sleeves. They may now comfortably express them with the shirt on their backs.